RE: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the Romans do?

It's a pretty common sight here in SE Alaska to see folks dressed for
paddling in cotton Carhart jeans, a fleece pullover top and the ubiquitous
SE footwear called Xtra-Tufs (16 inch brown rubber boots).  Pretty scary to
tell the truth - even in summer an unprotected person can quickly succumb to
hypothermia in these waters.  OTOH - most of the paddlers aren't (I hate to
use the word cause I do it for fun) "serious" paddlers and tend to only go
out in calm conditions for short paddles.
  If you visit the Juneau area you'll recognize me on the water very easily,
I think I have the only Kokatat GoreTex drysuit in town and I wear it almost
religiously.  

Dave Seng
Juneau, Alaska




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hal Levine [mailto:hlevin_at_jlc.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 1999 4:00 PM
> To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> Subject: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the Romans do?
> 
> 
> Here in New England us Romans usually wear some type of thermal
> protection (wet suit, farmer john, fuzzy rubber, dry suit or dry top,
> neo booties etc.) when going out on the open ocean or large bays when
> the water temp is less than 60 F.
> 
> I had the wonderful opportunity to paddle in the Pacific NW (San Juan
> Island and Glacier Bay) last week and the only protection anyone
> (individuals or outfitters) wore were knee high rubber boots. 
>  The water
> was in the low 40s in the San Juans and less in Glacier Bay.  I was a
> good Roman and went out but was not at all comfy.  What's the deal?
> 
> Additionally, the outfitter from Friday Harbor instructed the 
> newbies to
> put the spray skirt  over the pfd.  I know it was near a full 
> moon but I
> was very surprised. In a week of traveling around in Southern 
> Alaska and
> Washington I never saw a wet suit or dry top.
> 
> Is is a right ocean right brain; left ocean left brain thing?
> 
>     Hal
>     Wilton, NH
> 
>     Power your boat with carbohydrates,
>     not hydrocarbons.
>     http://www.jlc.net/~hlevin
> 
> 
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